Girl misses school because sleepy-head mother has trouble getting up every morning

Last updated at 20:45 23 August 2007

A girl of six failed to turn up for dozens of school lessons because her mother was too tired to get out of bed every morning.

The astonishing excuse was revealed as Chantelle Kay was sentenced for her daughter Lauren's unauthorised absences.

The primary school pupil missed the equivalent of 36 days in a six-month period due to her mother's habit of sleeping in, the hearing was told.

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Kay, a single mother of two, told magistrates that she had bought an alarm clock in a bid to wake up on time each day, but even that had failed to help her rise.

Ordered to pay £60 costs and given a one-year community order, she denied claims she was bone idle and insisted she took her daughter's schooling "very seriously".

"Education is important," she said. "I care a hell of a lot about her education. I do a lot at home. It is not lazy. I do try and get her to school but I have a problem getting up in the morning.

"I just can't wake up. Once I am up, I don't find it difficult to motivate myself. I understand why they've done what they've done but anybody who knows me will tell you I do try. I know her education is important.

"The judge said buy an alarm clock. I have got a massive alarm clock, but sometimes I just sleep through it."

The hearing at Teesside Magistrates Court was told that Lauren attended 107 half-day school sessions out of a possible 180 between January 22 and June 25 this year.

During that period, her mother failed to attend a string of case conferences with the local council to discuss Lauren's absence from Archibald Primary School, in Cleveland.

Neil Wilson, prosecuting for Middlesbrough Council, said that when she finally did turn up, she explained that her daughter had missed school because she couldn't muster the energy to get up.

"The only excuse that could be given was the defendant personally found it difficult to get out of bed in the morning," he said.

Mr Wilson said the council wrote to Kay in March 2006 detailing the school's concerns.

But when home visits were made on November 27 last year and January 11 this year, she was not in and did not respond to calling cards, the court heard.

Mr Wilson said Kay was finally issued with a £50 fixed penalty notice on February 1 but that it was never paid. She finally explained her reason for not getting her daughter to school during a meeting on February 12.

Kay, of Montrose Street, Middlesbrough, admitted failing to secure her daughter's attendance at an earlier hearing. She represented herself in court but said nothing in her own mitigation.

Magistrate Ken Smith told her: "Lauren has to go to school. She is not an unruly teenager, she is only six. What will it be like when she is 16?"

He ordered her to pay costs and gave her a 12-month supervised community order.

He added: "There will be some very early morning orders, I suspect."

A spokesman for Middlsebrough Council said they were now considering the possibility of ringing Kay, who has another daughter, Rhiannan, three, every morning in a bid to make sure that she wakes up on time.

He said: "The object is not to get the parent to court but to get the children to school. Parents have to realise that this is not an optional extra and the fact that we take people to court speaks volumes and emphasises how seriously we take it."